241 SEPTEMBER11, 1936 SCIENCE

of the air and visibility. A Weather Bureau observer checks the accuracy of the aerometeorograph, fastens i t to the airplane before each flight, makes the neces- sary meteorological observations a t the earth's surface before and during the flight, and puts into usablc form the records brought down by the aerometeorograph and the pilot.

At the eight army stations-Mitchel Field, Long Island, N. Y.; Selfridge Field, near Detroit, Mich.; Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio; Scott Field, Belleville, Ill.; Kelly Field, San Antonio, Tex. ; Maxwell Field, Montgomery, Ala.; Barlcsdale Field, Shreveport, La., and Boston, Mass.-Air Corps pilots and planes, using Weather Bureau instruments, make the daily flights. Weather Bureau observers do the rest of the work. At the seven other stations-Lakehurst, N. J.; Anacostia, D. C. ;Norfolk, Va. ;Pensacola, Fla. ; San Diego, Calif.; Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and Seattle, Wash.-the navy provides all equipment and does all the work.

A country-wide teletype and radio communication service-nearly all operated by the Bureau of Air Commerce, U. S. Department of Commerce-make it possible to transmit airplane weather observations instantaneously to the stations where they are to be used. From two stations not yct on one of these cir- cuits-Sault Sainte Marie and Maxwell Field-the observations are telegraphed to the nearest point on the teletype circuits. Observations taken a t Pearl IIarbor go by navy radio to San Francisco, where they are put on teletype circuits.

Airplane obscrvation flights are made a t about the same time all over the country---4: 00 A. M., Eastern Standard Time, except when the weather is unfavor- able, particularly when the ceiling (base of the clouds) is lowcr than 800 feet or when visibility is less than 2 miles. At cach station the information compiled a t the end of the flight is coded and sent out over a teletype or radio circuit, or first by telegraph, to the six district forecast centers and other stations of the Weather Burcau. Rcaehing these stations by 8 : 30 A. M., E. S. T., the data are plotted on various kinds of charts, which, in conjunction with charts of surface, pilot balloon and cloud observations, give the fore- casters the information they need in making the daily weather forccasts.

COLLECTIONS OF WOODS OF THE WORLD AT YALE UNIVERSITY

PROGRESSin tropical forestry and the world-wide study of woods by thc Yale Forcst School is the sub- ject of a report recently issued. The Yale wood col- lections now contain over 32,500 specimens, represent- ing more than 10,400 named species of 2,548 genera and 225 families. The additions during the last two

years alone almost equalled the total number of speci- mens on hand a decade ago.

The principal addition made to the collections was secured as a result of the visit of Professor Samuel J. Record to I-Iolland. This consisted of a gift from the Comrncrcial Museum of the Colonial Institute a t Amsterdam of 2,215 Javanese wood specimens col- lected with herbarium matcrial by Koorders during the years 1888-1894. This material was studied for more than 30 years by Dr. Janssonius of Holland, and the results of his work were published in six volumes. Students can now examine thc actual material which is, described in the text.

More attention in the future will be given to in-creasing the number of preparations for microscopic study. Last year, cross, radial and tangential sections of 973 specimens were added to the slidc collections. These collections now contain slides of 5,235 speci- mens. Most of the slides have been received in ex-change for wood samples, many of them coming from thc Forest Rescarch Institute, the Federated Malay States, the Imperial Forestry Institute, Oxford, thc Biological Laboratories, EIarvard, and the botanical department of the University of Michigan.

One of Profcssor Record's major projects has been the study of the timbers of British Honduras. The work was bcgun ten years ago ion cooperation with the forestry department of thc colony and with the Field Muscum of Natural History. H e collaborated in the authorship of a volumc on this subject, published this year by the museum.

For the work in timber testing, it has been found advantageous to use specimens of littlc known but potentially important tropical trees, as the data thus obtained are contributions to science. Professor George A. Garratt has finished a papcr on the trees known in British Honduras as "Waika Chewstick.'? It is planned to continue this work through arrange- mcnts with logging operators in tropical America.

Other activities include the building up of the herbarium, the identitication of wood samples and the supplying of information to scientific men, timber dealcrs, wood users and to the general public.

MEETING OF THE FOUNDER SOCIETIES O F THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF PHYSICS A JOINT mccting of the American Physical Society,

the Optical Society of America, the Acoustical Society of America, the Society of Rheology and the Amer- ican Association of Physics Teachers will be held in New York, from October 29 to 31.

This meeting, held at the timc of the fifth anniver- sary of the American Institute of Physics, will con- sist partly of the regular papers of the separate so- cieties and partly of sessions in which all the societies,